D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B♭, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C♯. Its key signature has one flat (see below: Scales and keys).

Its relative major is F major, and its parallel major is D major. D minor is one of the two flat-signature keys whose melodic and harmonic scale variations require the addition of a written sharp; the other is G minor.

Of Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, 151 are in minor keys, and with 32 sonatas, D minor is the most often chosen minor key. Nigel Tufnel, one of the members of the musical spoof megagroup Spinal Tap speaks of "a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why."

J. S. Bach's entire The Art of Fugue is in D minor. According to Alfred Einstein, the history of tuning has led D minor to be associated with counterpoint and chromaticism (for example, the chromatic fourth), and cites Mozart's chromatic fugue in D minor. Mozart's Requiem is also written primarily in D minor, as is the aria "Der Hölle Rache". Of the two piano concertos that Mozart wrote in a minor key, one of them is in D minor, No. 20, K. 466. Sibelius's Violin Concerto is in D minor, as is Schumann's. The tonality of D minor held special significance for Helene and Alban Berg.

Concerto in D (Stravinsky)

Igor Stravinsky's Concerto in D ("Basle") for string orchestra was composed in Hollywood between the beginning of 1946 and 8 August of the same year in response to a 1946 commission from Paul Sacher to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Basler Kammerorchester (BKO—in English, Basel Chamber Orchestra), and for this reason is sometimes referred to as the "Basle" Concerto ("Basle" being the French form of the city's name). It was premiered on 27 January 1947 in Basel by the BKO, conducted by Paul Sacher (Gritten 2003, xii; Walsh 2001; White 1979, 438). Other sources say it was six days earlier, on the day of the orchestra's twentieth anniversary, 21 January (Anon. 2012; Stephenson and Weed 2002, 348), when two other works commissioned by Sacher were also premiered: Arthur Honegger's Symphony No. 4 Deliciae Basiliensis and Bohuslav Martinů's Toccata e due Canzoni (Ford 2002; Halbreich 1999, 325).

The Concerto in D was the first composition Stravinsky created after becoming a naturalised American citizen on 28 December 1945, and was also the first of his works to be published under the contract with his new publisher, Boosey & Hawkes (White 1979, 123–25).

Concerto for Two Violins (Bach)

The Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043, also known as the Double Violin Concerto, is perhaps one of the most famous works by J. S. Bach and considered among the best examples of the work of the late Baroque period. Bach may have written it between 1717 and 1723 when he was the Kapellmeister at the court of Anhalt-Köthen, Germany, though the work's performance materials for the Ordinaire Concerten that Bach ran as the Director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig are dated c. 1730-31. Later in 1739, in Leipzig, he created an arrangement for two harpsichords, transposed into C minor, BWV 1062. In addition to the two soloists, the concerto is scored for strings and basso continuo.

The concerto is characterized by the subtle yet expressive relationship between the violins throughout the work. The musical structure of this piece uses fugal imitation and much counterpoint.

The concerto comprises three movements:

Violin concerto

A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day. Many major composers have contributed to the violin concerto repertoire, with the best known works including those by Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Paganini, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. Traditionally a three-movement work, the violin concerto has been structured in four movements by a number of modern composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, and Alban Berg (in the latter, the first two and last two movements are connected, with the only break coming between the second and third). In some violin concertos, especially from the Baroque and modern eras, the violin (or group of violins) is accompanied by a chamber ensemble rather than an orchestra—for instance, Vivaldi's L'estro armonico, originally scored for four violins, two violas, cello, and continuo, and Allan Pettersson's first concerto, for violin and string quartet.

Oboe Concerto (Marcello)

The Concerto for Oboe and Strings in D minor, attributed to Alessandro Marcello, is one of the most performed oboe concertos in the repertory. It was written in the early 18th century and has become Marcello's most famous work. Bach wrote a keyboard transcription of the concerto.

Attribution

Although the concerto was first published as Alessandro's in the early 18th century, it was grouped with Vivaldi concertos in some 18th century manuscripts and the 19th century first print of Bach's arrangement. One manuscript of the oboe version attributed it to Alessandro's brother Benedetto, and that was how the concerto was known for a large part of the 20th century, but from the late 20th century the concerto is generally again attributed to Alessandro.

Movements

The piece has three movements:

The concerto survives in different printed and manuscript versions, one of these in C minor.

Bach's transcription

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a transcription of the piece in D minor for harpsichord (BWV 974), enhancing the dramatics of the first movement and embellishing the Adagio.